Corner-strap for crates.



w No. 722,692. v PATBNTED MAR. 17,1903.

E.- F. GILBERT.

CORNER STRAP FOR CRATES.

APPLICATION FILED-TUNE 4,1902. 7 v NO MODEL. I

Fig. I. 7 Fig.1].

1 I 4 J tfl g 1 g I 2- -//,-I-\ j I liylo 1? 2.0 Fer- 1 UNITED STATES EDWARD F. GILBERT, OF LYONS, NEW YORK.

CORNER-STRAP FOR CRATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 722,692, dated. March 17, 1903.

Application filed June 4, 1902. Serial No. 110,209. tNo model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lyons, in the county of WVayne and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corner-Straps for Crates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionfof the same.

This invention relates to that class of de-' vices by means of which the corners of wooden crates, packing-boxes, &c., are strengthened; and its object is to shape straps of hoop metal or similar material so that they may serve as corner-posts and cross-ties for crates and securely bind their own corners.

To this end my invention consists in cornerstraps for crates formed as hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I is a perspective View of a crate according to my invention, a portion of the corner-strap being broken away. Fig. II represents a portion of a blank hoop ready to be shapedinto one of my corner-straps. Fig. III is a perspective View of one of my cornerstraps ready to be applied, butbroken at two places to show it in cross-section. and turned on its side relatively to Fig. I. Fig. 1V is a side view, partly in transverse vertical section, of a strap-corner.

To make one of these straps, a piece of hoop metal 5 is to be sheared obliquely at an angle of about forty-five degrees on lines 6 and 7 to corner-points 8 9, nearly central in the width of the hoop. These corner-points are measured distances apart along the hoop corresponding with the width and height of the crate to be strapped. The hoop is now to be bent into a right-angled trough longitudinally. Then the corners are to be made by a crosswise bend at lines 10, and the strap is finished by bending the laps 16 at lines 11 and 12 against the sides 15 and then turning the points 21 under the edge of the sides to hold thereto like hooks. The dotted lines 13 show the end shape of the under portions 14:. The

nail-holes 17 may be punched in the hoop by machinery; but hoop metal strong enough for such purposes is still so thin that it may be punched with a wire nail by a hammer-blow. When the strap is completed, as described,

either in square or parallelogram form, it has cuts in one edge only and only one cut for each corner of the crate, and the other edge of the strip remains whole throughout its length. It constitutes a frame for the end of a crate stiff enough to hold the wooden side strips 18, top and bottom strips 19, and end strips 20 when nailed to them, and this it does without the aid of corner-posts of wood.

For the transportation of nice fruits that should not be jammed the corners of the wooden strips may be guarded by a lining of stiff paper in the crate or of thin shaved wood. It is further thought that baskets or boxes of very thin wood could be sufficiently protected by means of these corner-straps to serve for transporting fruit with safety.

WVhen the angular laps over the corners are hooked in place and nailed down, they form bonds that add greatly to the stiffness of the strap-corners, making them Very rigid.

By means of these straps crates may be quickly made up from bundles of strips of wood cut to the lengths required. Crates thus made are strong enough for security in transportation, so that they secure a great saving in handling and. in freight charges, and are therefore economical as well as simple andeasily constructed by any one who can drive a nail. Toput on the top or cover slats, it is necessary to leave the joining end of the band open at an upper corner and after inserting the top slats under the two bands or straps then close and nail down that corner of the strap.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. In corner-straps for crates, a strip of thin metal bent into an angular trough and having slits extending from one edge obliquely to the trough angle, both sides of the trough being bent transversely to the line thereof at the inner end of one of the said slits, substantially as described, whereby one end ofthe out side overlaps the other end thereof and passing over the corner, overlaps the other side also.

2. A corner-strap for crates comprising an angular trough of hoop metal having a slit obliquely across one of its sides to the angle; a portion of the out side being bent down of the said slits, the angular points of the slit side overlapping the whole side as reinforces at the corners substantially as described, whereby the cornerposts and cross-stays comprising the end frame for a crate are formed in one piece of hoop material.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD F. GILBERT. Witnesses:

FRED (J. PELL, GEO. KENT. 

